Subject: Eric Mar

• SF Gov InAction: Anti-smoking legislation, African Americans leaving SF, and whistleblower protection. Plus: It's cover-your-ass Thursday at City Hall!

  August 4, 2008

• The Tragedy of Gavin Newsom & Chris Daly’s Shared Flaw

  October 16, 2008

• The Unexpected Things SF Gay Newspapers Say About Prop V

  November 4, 2008

• Hot Off the Presses: Breaking District Returns

  November 4, 2008

• SF 2008 Election Winners & Losers

  November 5, 2008

• San Francisco Voters are Smarter Than They Look

  November 5, 2008

• How Could Progressive Coalition Shatter? Let Us Count the Ways

  Will it be the House of Harmony or the House of Pain? The answer is: Yes. Progressive Supervisors banded together last week to elect a compromise-candidate Board President, which raises a crucial question: "Since when have progressives compromised on anything?" In a town that views compromise as moral weakness (No Justice, No Peace), the fact that progressives were willing to make concessions to the people they hate most - each other - shows how concerned they are about their coalition fr

  January 14, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes Stand by Each Other After Little John Avalos Has His Bar Mitzvah

  This is the week the new Board of Supervisors goes from JV to Varsity. I know it felt like they'd hit the big time before, what with hundreds of people crowding the hearing rooms to yell at them about stuff they hadn't done -- but that's just the crowd getting fired up by San Francisco's airheaded cheerleader, Gavin "I'm really a Mayor!" Newsom. I know they thought that holding big hearings on potential budget cuts -- without actually doing anything about them -- was a big deal: But no, it

  February 9, 2009

• Mayor, Board President's Payroll Tax Plans are Different; Supes Notified Via Press Release

  It turns out the mayor does have a device for communicating with David Chiu. It's called a press release.Yesterday we wrote about how Mayor Gavin Newsom announced at the San Francisco Business Times breakfast that he was proposing an overhaul of the city's payroll tax -- which came as news to Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, who had proposed overhauling said tax two weeks ago. It turns out that the proposals are, indeed, different -- and the mayor's payroll proposition was just one of

  February 12, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes Dream of Presidency, Take the Week Off -- Except For a Major Budget Showdown that Could Doom Us All

  For the last eight years in San Francisco, "President's Day" was a cruel joke on a city with no sense of humor about politics. Sure, America could boast Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and TWO Roosevelts -- but we were stuck with Bush. None of our traditional coping strategies worked. No matter how much we visualized change, no matter how many social networks we joined, no matter how "sex-positive" we were, and no matter how much fun we made of people who weren't visualizing sex-positive so

  February 17, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes Huddle in Closed Session to Gossip About Catholic Church and Landmark Trees

  I wish I were a supervisor. Then I could have only three meetings this week. I kid, of course: It's hard work pretending to take this stuff seriously. Monday, Feb. 22 10:30 a.m. -- City Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee If I had to pick one word to describe this meeting, it would be "quirky." As well as accepting various grants (my favorite is a grant for "children's dental disease prevention services"), Ross Mirkarimi has a bill "urging San Francisco's Congressional and

  February 23, 2009

• An Odd Tradition: Thousands of Dollars Flood to Winning S.F. Supes After Polls Close -- From Their Enemies

  Joe EskenaziSupervisor John Avalos admits that taking post-election donations from former political enemies looks bad -- but having a massive campaign debt is badYou'd think making a donation to a San Francisco supervisorial candidate would be a bit like a horse race: You make your "bets," you cheer down the stretch, and, if you bet correctly, you get a "return." In some ways it's like that. But once the horses cross the finish line, the analogy blows up. In a San Francisco supervisorial horse r

  February 24, 2009

• Coalition for Responsible Growth Less Responsible About Reporting Campaign Expenditures

  Injury: Spending $100,000 or more on unsuccessful political campaigns. Insult: Getting dinged for thousands more dollars over delinquent campaign filings.There are more entertaining endeavors than being the bean-counter for the Coalition for Responsible Growth these days. The San Francisco political action committee -- which could be labeled either "anti-progressive" or "pro-moderate" depending on whom you want to get angry at you -- has rallied its troops by urging action in "taking S.F. on a s

  March 3, 2009

• 'Shamed' No More: On Same Day as Receiving Delinquent Notice (and Mention in SF Weekly Article) Coalition for Responsble Growth Files Expenditure Reports

  Yesterday we wrote about how a San Francisco "pro-moderate/anti-progressive" group, the Coalition for Responsible Growth, was less responsible about filing its campaign expenditures in a timely manner. After a month of delinquency in failing to report how much it spent in the last election, the CRG abruptly filed  its expenditure report yesterday -- the same day it received a second late notice and a spot on the Ethics Commission's "Hall of Shame" for non-responsive filers (and, perhaps not

  March 4, 2009

• Leave Gavin ALONE! Mayor Was Right To Skip D.C. Beg-a-Thon

  While Gavin Newsom doesn't make a habit out of staying in San Francisco, it was a good thing he missed last week's D.C. crusadeLast week a lot of people were writing nasty things about Mayor Gavin Newsom always being out of town. This week they're complaining that the "where's Waldo mayor" stayed here. The theory is that by skipping out on the Supervisors' week-long lobbying trip to Washington D.C., Gavin was putting his campaign for governor ahead of San Francisco -- despite the fact that an

  March 17, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Another Battle in the War on Fun, Children, and Food Made with Real Organic Cruelty

  Monday, March 23, 10:30 a.m. - City Operations & Neighborhood Services Committee It's hard to figure out what Sophie Maxwell and Gavin Newsom have in common. Sophie, after all, is a black woman who doesn't like technology but will answer her land line to talk to friends and critics alike, while Gavin is a white man who thinks that everything he texts should be secret because, hey, he did it on his iPhone, and you don't come between a man and his iPhone. That's personal -- way more pers

  March 23, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes To Be Renamed 'The Super Friends' And Only Use Powers For Good. PLUS: Is Gavin Newsom a Cylon?

  Monday, March 30, 1 p.m. - Land Use & Economic Development Committee I'm thinking of holding a garage sale. My worldly possessions -- not to brag -- include a bag of kumquats, a DVD of Waking Life, a book of commonly used Scottish phrases, and a bottle of something that this guy on the corner swears is wine. The city is also planning to hold a little garage sale. Up for auction: Seven parcels of land along the former Central Freeway right of way and Octavia Boulevard. Their value is est

  March 30, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: What Kind of MONSTER Wouldn't Get a Candle Permit? Plus: Save the Budget Analyst!

  Monday, April 6 11 a.m. - Public Safety Committee Who watches the watchers? Why, the Public Safety Committee does. Every other week. Its recent agendas haven't actually involved DOING much -- there's not much legislation coming out of these meetings -- but they've been crammed with hearings looking into things. They've examined police procedures, crime trends, and best practices - to the extent that the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice has any. Today's agenda continues the committe

  April 6, 2009

• Eric Mar's students say he's easy like Sunday morning

  February 11, 2009

• Change Hasn't Come to S.F.

  Blacks should look to Washington and not to City Hall for hope.

  November 12, 2008

• Pacifists for War

  How the fractured counterrecruitment movement includes those hoping to bring the draft back

  November 2, 2005

• Number Crunch

  May 4, 2005

• The Ackerman Election

  The school board races focus on a superintendent's future and progressive versus downtown political infighting. Kids aren't much mentioned.

  October 27, 2004

• Race for Space

  An unorthodox school for dropout risks is still searching for a campus, leaving students in learning limbo

  June 26, 2002

• SF Gov InAction: Gavin Newsom Will Be Told That David Chiu Is Rejecting MUNI's Budget Sometime In Early 2011

  From a numerical standpoint, the Supes are finally getting their act together. At the beginning of the year, we were lucky if they made it through four meetings a week. Now they're hitting six or seven almost every time. That's the good news. The bad news is that the number of meetings apparently has no relationship to the quality of work done. Perhaps that means what we really need is a "slow legislation" movement in which proposals made of fresh ingredients are allowed to stew in their

  May 4, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Madatory Composting -- And Your Mother -- Are Back In Town

  Well, that's the thing: I thought my mom would know the Snuggie was a gag gift, but she actually thought it was a real gift. So here I'd planned this completely ironic moment, and she was starting to tear up. She actually said "It looks so comfortable, and I get so cold in winter!" Shit! So what could I do? I ... Oh! Hello! I didn't see you there. It's all right, you're not interrupting anything. I was just explaining how my mother got arrested on her special day. Funny story: Apparently

  May 11, 2009

• S.F. Inquiry Regarding Disability Placards May Miss the (Disabled) Elephant In the Room: It's Just Too Damn Easy To Get a Disability Placard

  Who wants some?Supervisor Eric Mar was on the side of the angels yesterday when he convened a hearing looking into the Municipal Transportation Authority's enforcement of potential disability placard fraud; if Mar can help bring the legal hammer down on able-bodied folks who fraudulently represent themselves as disabled, hog San Francisco's precious parking spaces all day long for free, and cost the city millions in the process, more power to him. And yet, a discussion framed around MTA enforcem

  May 12, 2009

• MTA Budget Showdown Leads To ... Wait For It ... A COMPROMISE!

  Jim HerdThat sound you heard earlier today was every City Hall journalist in San Francisco slapping his palm on the table when the Board of Supervisors vote over the controversial Muni budget was continued. And continued again. And more time went by. And now ... after several hours of behind-the-scenes intrigue, a compromise budget has been announced. Chris Roberts at SF Appeal has been live-blogging this thing -- a Godsend for those of us chained to our desks -- and SF Weekly's Peter Jamison is

  May 12, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes To Spend Week Memorializing Extra, Extra Hard

  Most Government offices in America took Monday off to honor those who fell in our nation's defense. For the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, however, Memorial Day is really about honoring what all the other holidays, from Veterans Day to Christmas, are really about honoring: the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. That's why, whenever there is a holiday -- of any kind, at any time -- they try to take the entire rest of the week off. Because to take any less vacation time would be to disho

  May 26, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Mandatory Composting Gets Some New Sponsors. Which Bin Do We Put 'Futility' In?

  I hope you'll forgive me if I keep this week's Gov InAction curt: I told WAY too many David Chiu jokes over the weekend, and now I'm worn out. I've got to remember to pace myself. However, in case you're wondering, here's how many David Chius it takes to change a light bulb: • None: Aaron Peskin already changed it. • One: and he will change it, assuming no one else can agree on a consensus candidate for the job. • Two: it takes two David Chius to gloat about a major accomplishm

  June 8, 2009

• Supervisors Push for Resolution Supporting Alleged Cop Killers

  San Francisco Eight, Board of Supervisors, Sophie Maxwell, Eric Mar, San Francisco Police Department, Sgt. John Young, Black Liberation Army, Black Panthers

  June 8, 2009

• Union President: Supervisors' Resolution Supporting Alleged Cop Killers is 'Spitting in the Face of Every Cop in San Francisco'

  The Ingleside police station, where Sgt. John V. Young was killed in 1971The president of San Francisco's police union railed against supervisors Eric Mar and Sophie Maxwell today for their sponsorship of a resolution asking that charges be dropped against the seven men charged with killing a city police sergeant in 1971.Gary Delagnes of the San Francisco Police Officers Association said the resolution, which he characterized as "idiotic," is "going to send a pretty devastating message to the me

  June 8, 2009

• Supes' Resolution Links Arrest of Alleged Cop-Killers to Iraq Torture Scandals

  Sgt. John V. YoungIf leftist supervisors sought to show the world that their sympathy for a group of alleged cop-killers in San Francisco was more than a zany political stunt, they have done themselves no favors with a new resolution that links the men's arrest to the Bush Administration, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib.The resolution, which will be reviewed this afternoon by the supes' Government Audit and Oversight Committee, urges California Attorney General (and presumed 2010 gubernatorial

  June 11, 2009

• The Blue Placard Blues: Bill Would Seriously Fine Disabled Placard Scofflaws, But Doesn't Note It's Still Just Too Easy to Get One

  Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's bill to crack the financial whip when it comes to billing disabled parking placard outlaws is moving through the State Senate -- and local leaders are singing its praises. And why not? Seriously, who could object to a plan to ding those who falsely pass themselves off as disabled and suck up San Francisco's maddeningly sparse parking all damn day long? Who will step forward and fight on behalf of the phony disabled greedy parking community? Whose constituency is that? So

  June 12, 2009

• Pride Rides: The Mayor's Convoy, The Public Defender's Truck, The Assessor's Last-Minute Call -- and a Big Surprise From Eric Mar

  Janine KahnAn artist's rendition of Jeff Adachi's dump truckAnswers are trickling in from our elected officials on how they plan on cruising at this weekend's Pride Parade. Starting at the top, Mayor Gavin Newsom takes the same approach with vehicles as he does with spokesmen -- if one is good, then more is great! A letter from staunch Newsom supporter and District 6 supervisor candidate David Villa-Lobos disseminates info from the mayor's office to the hundreds of folks expected to march in the

  June 24, 2009

• Pride Rides: Leno, Mirkarimi Give Shout-Out to City Car Share, Daly Gives Us The Finger

  There's no legal argument Dennis Herrera can make to convince us this car ain't a beaut...Yesterday we began answering the eternal question: If a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it -- what kind of cars would your elected representatives ride in Sunday's Pride Parade? Our personal favorite thus far is Supervisor Eric Mar (and six other guys) riding on a seven-seat bicycle. Our second favorite, though is a tie between Senator Mark Leno and Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. Both are s

  June 25, 2009

• San Francisco's Campaign Finance Laws Are Complex. Eluding Them? That's More Simple.

  'It's good to be the king' -- and it's always good to have powerful folks in your corner pulling some stringsSan Francisco's campaign finance rules are so beastly complex that professional treasurers with decades of experience have been known to drive sharpened pencils through their palms in fits of desperation. Yet eluding these Byzantine laws need not require the greatest level of legal or administrative sophistication. In fact, you can employ the same strategy the rich kid in your high school

  June 29, 2009

• S.F. Decides on Bike Plan -- At Long Last -- at Friday Hearing

  San Francisco's bike advocates are preparing tonight for the culmination of what could be called a long and uphill battle to implement a comprehensive Bike Plan for the city. Meanwhile, Bike Plan opponents, led by local gadfly Rob Anderson (although whether his efforts to stymie the Bike Plan have been a help or hindrance to bike advocates is still in debate), are planning retorts. The saga of the Bike Plan started three years ago when a Superior Court judge put a halt to any city modifications

  June 25, 2009

• Sf Gov InAction: Special Faux-Guest Edition!

  Do you ever get tired of doing the same thing every week? Me too. So this week I decided to imagine how SF Gov InAction would look if it were written by five of this city's most ... um ... noteworthy ... pundits. You say "parody," I say "homage." Either way: Enjoy. Monday, June 29 11 a.m. - Budget & Finance Committee (as written by TIM REDMOND, San Francisco Bay Guardian Managing Editor) I was driving back from a trip to wine country last week and noticed that there were a lot fewer

  June 29, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: The Budget's All finished, Except for the Backstabbing

  Our story so far: The Supervisors were drinking champagne in City Hall last week after reaching a budget deal that restored an unprecedented amount money to programs that Mayor Gavin "Call me Governor" Newsom cut from San Francisco because he thought it would play well in Fresno. Par-TAY! But then Chris "Cassandra" Daly, the Supervisors' progressive Id, ruined the vibe by going to the budget committee and yelling lines from Jerry Maguire at it. In other cities, people would be surpris

  July 6, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: The Supes Have SUCH Good Intentions This Week That One of These Laws Just HAS to Work!

  Monday, Aug 17 11 a.m. - Public Safety Committee A lot's happened to the Public Safety Committee since the last time I wrote about it -- and there's one thing I just don't understand. Ross Mirkarimi used to be the chair of the Public Safety Committee, and he was exceptional at pulling the many tangled threads of San Francisco's attempts to keep its citizens safe from crime (the better to lecture us about not smoking) into an organized weave. City crime mattered to him both as a humanitarian

  August 17, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Your 'Labor Day' Guide to What the F*#@k Happened in the Last Eight Months

  With a federal holiday appears on the calendar, city hall's motto becomes: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but how much time off you can take from your country". In this particular case, The supervisors like to celebrate Labor Day by pretending to have labored, while their staff likes to celebrate Labor Day by pretending to rest. (The one exception to this rule is Michela Alioto-Pier and her staff, who celebrate Labor Day by going into labor). The result for both is a three week "v

  August 24, 2009

• Proposed Rule Change Would Allow New Chief to Purge Top SFPD Brass

  Chief George Gascon​New San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon has not announced plans to liquidate top SFPD brass and fill positions with his own people, as he did during his first year as chief of the police department in Mesa, Arizona.Notwithstanding, a proposed amendment introduced by Supervisor David Campos last week would change the city's administrative code to allow him to do just that. The proposed rule change would let the chief make appointments to his command staff from lower ran

  August 25, 2009

• Exclusive: Buju Banton Sits Down with LGBT Activists

  EKAphotographyBuju Banton meets the LGBT Posse​ In what may be a groundbreaking and possibly historical event, controversial reggae star Buju Banton met with representatives from the LGBT community this afternoon. Banton has been a frequent target of gay rights protesters for his 1992 song "Boom Bye Bye," which activists say glorifies murder and violence directed at gays. Before the dialogue, Banton's show at the Rock It Room scheduled for tonight (October 12) appeared in jeopardy of cance

  October 12, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: City Brings Hammer Down on Anti-Prostitution Program, Then Forms a Glee Club to Sing Social Services to Sleep

    I've had a really busy few weeks, and I haven't been able to catch up on any of the new fall shows yet. So I tried to cram a lot of television in this weekend while writing SF Gov InAction. Just so you know. Monday, Oct. 19, 10 a.m. - Public Safety Committee Somebody has to say it: the Public Safety Committee we have in San Francisco isn't nearly as good looking as the one they have in CSI Miami. Can we get them re-cast? I wouldn't mind if the supervisors stay around a

  October 19, 2009

• Transblazer

  October 21, 2009

• SF Gov InAction: Supes Vote to Give Cats, Entertainment Commission, Claws

    I'm worried about the supes. Are they feeling all right? Are they eating enough protein? Are they celebrating legal weed a little too early?I'm concerned because there's a federal holiday -- Veteran's Day -- right in the middle of the week, and it's the only day the supervisors are taking off. Not the day after, not the day before, not most of the week. Just the one holiday. Does that sound like them? No. No it does not. It sounds like something a governing body in a responsible ci

  November 9, 2009